Community asbestos exposure in Globe, Arizona

Our plain-English summary of Community asbestos exposure in Globe, Arizona, by R. Ing, H. Falk, R.A. Lemen, et al (The Journal of Pediatrics, 1981).

The study

• Authors: R. Ing, H. Falk, R.A. Lemen, G. Carson, A. Kelter, J. Sarn, M. Gray
• Journal: The Journal of Pediatrics
• Published: 1981;99(3):409-11
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 004843).

In plain English

This report described a mobile-home subdivision of 38 homes and 118 residents, including 26 children under age 13, two miles from Globe, Arizona. It was built in 1973 on an asbestos mill property, with mill tailings as the main landfill material. The contamination was discovered by accident in October 1979. The tailings contained approximately 60% chrysotile. Selected soil samples suspected of contamination had at least 5% asbestos in 44 of 50 home lots, and over 50% in four samples. Chrysotile fibers were found in household dust in all eight households sampled. Airborne fibers reached up to 4,000 per cubic meter in undisturbed indoor and outdoor air, 10,000 to 60,000 on personal samplers, and 350,000 during vacuuming in one home. A household survey found no current residents with known asbestos-related disease. The authors noted that clinical abnormalities would probably not appear for many years after this level of exposure. Residents were temporarily rehoused and the land was covered with soil, but rains in 1980 exposed contaminated soil again. The authors concluded that waste sites unsuitable for habitation need to be identified and marked.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive report of a community environmental exposure investigation, with environmental sampling and a household questionnaire survey
• Who was studied: 118 residents of a 38-home mobile-home subdivision two miles from Globe, Arizona, built in 1973 on the property of an asbestos mill, including 26 children under age 13. Contamination was discovered in October 1979.
• Exposure: Chrysotile asbestos mill tailings used as landfill under the homesites, defunct mill structures left standing, and a nearby active mill with a tailings pile
• Main results:
  • Tailings around the subdivision and from the active mill contained approximately 60% chrysotile asbestos
  • Selected soil samples suspected of contamination contained at least 5% asbestos in 44 of the 50 home lots, and over 50% asbestos in four samples
  • Chrysotile fibers were present in dust from furnace filters or vacuum cleaner bags in all eight households sampled
  • Airborne asbestos fibers (longer than 5 microns, counted by light microscopy) reached up to 4,000 fibers per cubic meter in undisturbed indoor and outdoor air
  • Four personal sampling devices measured 10,000 to 60,000 fibers per cubic meter. One personal sample reached 350,000 fibers per cubic meter during vacuuming of drapes and carpets in one home.
  • The household survey found that none of the current residents had known asbestos-related disease (asbestosis, mesothelioma, or lung cancer)
  • The survey identified 12 residents with other past or present sources of asbestos exposure, 35 cigarette smokers, and 15 ex-smokers
  • After the residents were temporarily rehoused and the site was covered with soil, heavy rains in summer 1980 eroded part of the topsoil and exposed contaminated soil in places
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the episode demonstrated the need to identify and mark waste disposal sites not suitable for human habitation, and pointed to the importance of continued monitoring of the homesites and residents
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated that clinical abnormalities would probably not be apparent for many years after this level of exposure, so the absence of current disease does not reflect long-term outcome

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Asbestos Exposure.

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